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connection with the refrain. The verse mayvery well be an original melody composedby Wyer; therefore, when the verse isperformed, credit should be given J. PaulWyer.[On 2/1/01 I called Trebor to ask again aboutWyer as original composer. He agrees thatWyer is not the creator of the “Bucket” strain,just the first guy to write it down.]Robbie continues,If some vocalist ever sings the publishedlyrics by Alf Kelley (Heaven forbid! They'reawful!) then the song is certainly "Long LostBlues" (H. Alf Kelley - J. Paul Wyer).Otherwise Kelley needn't be mentioned.At this point, Robbie had not yet examined theClarence Williams version that I had sent him.After reviewing that sheet music, he reported,Ref the "Words and Music ClarenceWilliams", c'right 1933. This edition does notuse the verse melody of "Long Lost Blues"by Wyer. Each of Clarence's 8-measuresections imply identically the same melodyand chords, give or take a doubled melodynote to fit the lyrics. Clarence's melody isindeed the same chorus melodycopyrighted by Wyer and sung by countlessvocalists. The refrain ("chorus") words inClarence's edition sound very traditional.So what do we in fact have from J. Paul Wyer& H. Alf Kelley as compared with the song thatjazz bands long have played and that we knowfrom those jazz bands as “My Bucket’s Got aHole in It”?Their 1914 song incorporates the “My Bucket”melodic strain into a larger composition thathas nothing else to do with it. Their lyricsdon’t have anything to do with “My Bucket,”nor, obviously, does their title.[A diversion for “A Bunch of Blues,” whichJohn Gill mentioned to Erdos as confirmationof Wyer’s credit for the melody. The 1915Bunch of Blues just quotes the previous year’sLong Lost Blues. Robbie, I presume you’llconfirm that the part quoted is the “Bucket”strain, but, even if it is, the fact is that this isjust a case of a melodic strain being quoted aspart of a larger compositon and that has no“Bucket” lyrics or “Bucket” title.]If incorporating that existing folk strain(remember, this is all based on the premisethat Wyer appropriated the strain rather thancomposing it himself) counts for that much,then we’ll have to re-write a hell of a lot ofother credits in this index. Simple strainspopping up in multiple jazz compositions areall over the place. Go listen to “St. LouisTickle” (by Theron C. Bennett, writing asBarney & Seymour) and compare it to “BuddyBolden’s Blues,” which we credit to Jelly RollMorton.The “Buddy Bolden” strain is clearly to befound in “St. Louis Tickle,” which waspublished in 1904. In that tune, it is part of alarger composition that is not named “BuddyBolden’s Tickle” and does not have any BuddyBolden lyrics. So we have no problem withJelly Roll coming along later (certainly wellafter 1904) and using that strain as the basisfor his song. Would you propose we changeour entry toBuddy Bolden’s Blues (I ThoughtI Heard Buddy Bolden Say)(Barney & Seymour*, later lyricsby Jelly Roll Morton)This would be beyond pedantry; it would bewhat Winston Churchill, when criticized forending a sentence with a preposition, called“arrant pedantry, up with which I shall not put.”The fact is that Clarence Williams is the fellowwho set down the title, melody, and lyrics thatwe know as “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.”[As for the lyrics, by the way, we don’t knowfor sure that Clarence Williams created them.But Wyer & Kelley didn’t mention a bucket.Trebor doesn’t know of any “Bucket” lyricsbefore Williams. And Don Rouse reports thathe can’t find any evidence of the “Bucket”lyrics having been recorded before 1940.]But even if we could find evidence that those“Bucket” lyrics had been floating aroundbefore 1933, the fact still remains thatClarence Williams is the guy who publishedthe title, lyrics, and melody in the form that weknow as “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It” today.2/3/01, some more info from Don Rouse:Bucket has been around at least since theturn of the century (the other one) and wasin common use in New Orleans andelsewhere, under many different titles, sameor similar melody, same I-V chordprogression. Note that it is not a blues bytechnical definition (it is not a 12 bar I-IV-Vchord progression). It is an 8 bar tune. 8 bartunes were common at the time. Also at thattime some 8 bar tunes were designated asblues; the technical definition was lessrigorous and blues apparently just meant away of playing a tune. Clarence Williamsdidn't write it. He just copyrighted it.Ear witnesses remember Bolden playing thetune (before 1910). Kid Ory interpolated itinto his medley that his band recorded in1922 (Spikes Seven Pods of Pepper),Society Blues.It also apparently went by the name LittleRed Wagon, among other titles. A NewOrleans trumpet player, Hipolyte Christian,recorded it in 1928 under the title Texas andPacific Blues. The second strain of KerryMills' Red Wing is very similar to the Bucketmelody, and the 8 bar strain is repeated tocreate a 16 bar melody. All the Whores Likethe Way I Ride is a slight variation alsoextended the same way to 16 bars. The laststrain of Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag is avariation on the Bucket melody. [This isespecially obvious in Kid Ory’s 1944recording of Maple Leaf. --DB]After listening to W. C. Handy’s 1917recording of A Bunch of Blues, Rousecommented,As we heard, following along with the sheetmusic, it is a recording of the publishedmedley, A Bunch of Blues. The last tune inthe medley, Long Lost Blues, is in its secondstrain the bucket melody [the first strain wasthe verse of Long Lost that Robbiepresumes is Wyer’s own composition].Wyer played in Handy's Memphis Band,toured with Handy, and quite possibly wasassociated with him in other ways. It is veryunlikely that Wyer originated the music toBucket's Got A Hole In It, a melodyassociated with Bolden, for one, way before1914.My Buddy (Walter Donaldson–Gus Kahn)Bob Schulz & His Frisco JB 1315Grand Dominion JB 1378Confirmed by 9/6/22 copyright reg., w. GK/m.WD. And by 1922 sheet music pub. by JeromeRemick (labeled on cover and cy page “SongVersion,” so there must have been aninstrumental version as well). Note that therewas a “My Buddy” by Neil Moret and ByronGay in 1919.My Castle in Spain (Isham Jones)Canary Cottage Dance Orchestra 1400Confirmed by 12/26/25 copyright reg., fromrevue By the Way.My Castle in Spain Is a Shack in theLane (Irving Caesar–Cliff Friend)Ernie Carson & the Castle JB 1283Confirmed by 1/16/29 unpub. copyright reg.,w/m both, but later pub. copyright reg. andcover of sheet music say w. IC/m. CF.My Conversational Man (seeConversational Man)My Curly-Headed Baby (see MaCurly-Headed Baby)My Cutey’s Due at Two-to-Two To-Day(Albert Von Tilzer–Leo Robin)Neely’s Royal Society Jazz Orch 1208Frisco Syncopators 1245We had “My Cutey’s Due at Two to TwoToday” by Von Tilzer-Bibo-Robin.Well, I found the cover (rest won’t displaybecause it’s still in copyright) at IN Harmony.Cover isMY CUTEY’S DUEAT TWO-TO-TWOTO-DAY